December 2015

First, this General Alert regarding our favorite LiPo batteries. Last week I had been using some steel wool and left a blob on my workbench. I then started a little project when all of a sudden the steel wool caught on fire. That’s right. I had pushed the blob against a 500 LiPo and the strands connected with the female end and set it on fire. Set steel wool on fire. It was somewhat exciting as I found pliers to throw the crap on the cement shop floor. Never a dull moment with this hobby.

Ok, let’s take a deep breath and start with this thrilling December Quad Talk.

I’ll start off by wrapping up on the Bodega Bay Bird Adventure. As I said last month, I purchased a $200 one year insurance policy along with the Phantom 3 Pro. The warranty is provided by Squaretrade http://www.squaretrade.com/ amazingly efficient and professional company. The repair included a new top and bottom shells and a new 4K camera with gimbal. I actually got to talk to the tech who repaired it and he ran down all the stuff he did during the repair. He tested all the systems and really flew it outdoors and indoors to check sonar. I strongly recommend a few more bucks if you are going to fly in tricky environments. Like around birds. UGH! Anyway, I have now named my P3 ‘Hitchcock’ since it was attacked in Bodega Bay about a mile from where The Birds movie was filmed in 1963.

2- More about how we might control air space. ‘CACI International, the defense and an intelligence contractor, are working on a system that could soon track and overtake rogue drones flying too close to airports, an increasing concern of the Federal Aviation Administration as it struggles to regulate the proliferation of flying robots. ME: Lots of ‘then a miracle happens though. http://wapo.st/1M3N8lj

4- A self-contained drone that is amazing with a new tech called re-localization. This system, built on a small AscTec Firefly hexacopter, uses a combination of sensors and a stereoscopic camera to calculate velocity, orientation, and gravity. It then compares these calculations with images from the camera and creates a 3D map of its environment, all on board. Checkout the video. http://dronelife.com/2015/10/30/new-drone-shows-can-see-learn-from-its-environment/

6- DJI Manifold http://fortune.com/2015/11/02/dji-manifold-computer/DJI has a strong position in the drone market—71% of commercial drone use cases approved by the U.S. FAA in August involved DJI drones. But well-funded competitors like Qualcomm QCOM1.57%and Intel INTC0.27%also want to produce the computers that drones use. Qualcomm revealed a chip last month that is optimized for drones. Intel has been investing in drone makers and has partnered with one of DJI’s rivals, San Francisco-based 3D Robotics.

So what could Manifold be used for? Hovering security cameras? Smart autonomous flying weapons (as feared by the US military)? Super-smart scientific monitoring devices to take away risk of harm to humans? Who knows – it's all in the hands of the inventors and big businesses now.

7- I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.

Google confirms it will launch a drone delivery service in 2017. This system and approach seems to make much more sense than landing on your stoop. http://wapo.st/1PhQzFY

13- And, the hourly update on how the FAA is going to control all flying things over one half pound. Imagine, the FAA dealing with such a ridiculous proposal. I guess an unworkable plan is better than no plan in the world of politics.